The company announced the acquisition during market hours today, 20 March 2009.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 103.79 points, or 1.15%, to 8,897.96.

On BSE, 10,446 shares were traded in the counter. The stock had an average daily volume of 11,655 shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 470 and a low of Rs 412.50 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 809 on 29 May 2008 and a 52-week low of Rs 320 on 27 October 2008.

The small-cap stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 19 March 2009, gaining 1.11% as compared to the Sensex's 0.45% fall. It had also outperformed the market in the past one quarter, rising 4.89% as compared to the Sensex's 10.87% fall.

The company's current equity is Rs 10 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

The current price of Rs 441.30 discounts the company's Q3 December 2008 annualized EPS of Rs 30.96, by a PE multiple of 14.25.

ICRA Techno Analytics, New Jersey, USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of ICRA Techno Analytics (ICTEAS) has acquired 100% stake in Sapphire International Inc. ICTEAS is a wholly owned subsidiary of ICRA, a leading Credit Rating Agency in India. The financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Sapphire International Inc., a Microsoft Gold partner, is in the business of providing information technology (IT) solutions to government agencies and large corporations in the US. Sapphire specializes in .NET based applications and solutions.

ICRA's net profit rose 16% to Rs 7.74 crore on 40.5% increase in net sales to Rs 21.07 crore in Q3 December 2008 over Q3 December 2007.

ICRA provides rating and grading services and research based information services. It also provides consulting services, information technology services, information services and outsourcing services.